Londinium

The most dramatic moment in the film A Few Good Men comes when Jack Nicholson’s character is in the courtroom, giving evidence and faced with a hostile lawyer.

He screams: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”

It’s unlikely Sir John Chilcot and his colleagues on the Iraq War inquiry will elicit a similar response from Tony Blair, when they summon him for a grilling.

But perhaps the former Prime Minister would be justified if he did decide to recreate the Hollywood scene.

There is already a view developing that the purpose of the inquiry is to convict Mr Blair of misleading the country in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. See Matthew d’Ancona’s latest column in the Daily Telegraph for an example.

But the truth is that Mr Blair did not take the decision to send British troops into Iraq alone.

He had the support of the Cabinet – including Gordon Brown.

Clare Short, the former International Development Secretary, has complained that there was little real debate in Cabinet. This may be true.

But any member of the Government had the option of resigning, if they did not support the invasion, as Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons at the time, memorably did.

It’s true that being in Government involves making compromises, and sometimes accepting things you don’t like. But the issue here was whether to go to war. If there was ever a time to make a principled stand, this was it.

The Conservative opposition supported the invasion. Party leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard had the opportunity to see the evidence supporting the case for an invasion, and, if they felt they were not being given the full picture, to make a judgement based on what they did know.

The House of Commons voted in favour of the invasion. And when the vote took place, late in February 2003, it was after serious questions had been raised about the Government’s use of intelligence to justify military action.

For example, earlier that month it had emerged that a Downing Street dossier detailing Iraq’s attempts to deceive the international community about its weapons programme had, in fact, been largely copied from an academic thesis published on the internet.

And the British people largely supported the invasion, something that tends to be forgotten now. To take one poll as an example, a YouGov survey on March 19 2003 - a day before the invasion - found that 50 per cent of voters backed the conflict, with 42 per cent opposed.

In 2005, after it became clear there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the UK voted to give Tony Blair a third term in office.

Yes, it is possible to make a very strong argument that the invasion of Iraq was a disastrous mistake.

But it would be wrong for Sir John's inquiry to turn Tony Blair into a scapegoat for the conflict.

The truth, whether we can handle it or not, is that the bulk of Britain’s political class, and, indeed, the public, must accept a share of the blame.

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Cushie said:

... You are clearly off your rocker. You want to hang this on the neck of the British people? Cabinet guilty? Yes; Conservatives accessories? Of-course. But the people? Talk of falsifying history! Even the Nazis and Soviet bolsheviks did not employ such cheap tactics. One man is responsible for the Iraq catastrophe and the hundreds of thousands that perished as a result: George W Bush. Tony Blair is responsible for the hundreds of Britons who lost their lives and the loss of moral authority that this Nation so sadly suffered. This kind of right-wing spread-the-blame nonsense just won't wash

August 02, 2009

Strappara said:

... STOP BLAIR from becoming the EU President! Go to http://www.stopblair.eu/ over 4000 new signatures since 15th July. Tell your friends - stop this travesty from happening. Sign this one too and press for him to be brought to the Hague to face charges for war crimes & illegal warmongering. This man is Dishonest, hypocritical &without integrity & must be kept out of public office and brought to justice http://www.petitiononline.com/BWCF/petition.html

August 02, 2009

BlairSupporter said:

... Well said. You are in limited but sane company with this article. The "Not In My Name"-rs will insist that none of the Iraq decision was THEIR doing. And that is in some ways right. These people are mainly anti-war people, anarchists, anti-Blair types or isolationists. I recall that the "anti" group was only around 35% in 2003. I too was not all that sure about the invasion at the start. Unlike many I changed my mind as it progressed TOWARDS the conviction that it was the right decision. Whatever else, it was NOT a decision taken by one man, Tony Blair. He came to parliament and got its support, and, as you point out, won another election two years later. This is what is so disingenuous, no ... hypocritical about the stance many in the Tory party take today as they prepare to watch Blair stew over this, content in the aspiration that he will never again be in a position to remind the country what REAL leadership was all about. The fact is that Iraq has been a successful operation. Iraq is now the only democracy in the Middle East apart from Israel. For that the Iraqi people today thank Bush and Blair and the other countries who ended Saddam's 30 year reign of terror. Ending the murderous insurgency groupings is taking longer but IS succeeding, and will succeed, a long as we don't fall for the propaganda of the enemy. The Iraq Inquiry is already having its ground rules drafted out by such as Norman Baker, the Daily Mail, the Independent and others of various hues. Strange bedfellows all. But they have their own agendas, never forget. My concern is that this Inquiry is already a TRIAL of a man I consider a highly principled and honest, YES HONEST politician. A man ahead of his time. It is already a trial by press and public opinion. Mob rule in other words, in this, the mother-of-parliaments (England) - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/96021.stm) That combination of pre-judgement and bias should be stamped out before it begins. "We are all innocent until proven guilty", even politicians. See my recent post on the "TRIALS of Tony Blair" - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/96021.stm.

August 03, 2009

BlairSupporter said:

... Left the wrong link at the end of the above. Sorry. Should have been http://keeptonyblairforpm.word...air-posts/.

August 05, 2009

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